cook1e

The road closure on the A466 near Chepstow was a lot more of a hassle as it was unexpected and we had to find a way around on the fly having missed/ignored  the diversion. Lots of narrow roads that were not much more than a track through the Forest of Dean, got a bit worried that the Sat Nav was sending us the wrong way but it worked a treat...

I nearly fell off my chair Tim, I first read read this as 137 no starters, ie 137 drop outs! My view with the road closure is it's good to share the info in advance so everyone is prepared to change their route, personal choice how you do this with either following the official diversion, using a traffic option on Sat Nav, planning by good old fashioned map or trying to follow your nose and getting lost! I know we've been warned bout major roadworks etc at the starting brief on previous runs, like the diversion in Wales a couple back. In 2,000 miles of route ther is always bound to be a bit of unplanned change, nice to get a heads up. One of the recommendations on the facebook thread is the A167 up to Darlington, round the ring road and pick up the A68, apparently the A167 has a weight limit so will be free from HGVs. Having plotted it in the Atlas it doesn't look much different in distance, probably just a bit slower on a twisty A road but may even be a nice drive! I've even marked the atlas up ready. Admittedly coming off at J50 before I read Tim's mail, however J49 doesn't look much different.

Just found a website with the details, The A1 will be closed from 8pm on Friday 7 October until 6am on Sunday 9 October in both directions between junction 51 (Leeming Bar) and Scotch Corner. website:-  http://www.harrogate-news.co.uk/2016/10/03/a1-closure-weekend-installation-new-bridge/# doesn't look like there's a particularly short diversion around this

Saw a post on facebook from Stuart Wilson on the RBRR facebook group:- "IMPORTANT NOTICE Just seen that the A1 is going to be closed from 8pm on Friday night for bridge works in the road works. This will no doubt have a significant effect on timings for Carter Bar onwards." Obviously should have been posted on here rather than the unofficial facebook group! Not sure where the roadworks are and whether it's possible to organise a re-route away from this?

I always post any off line cash donations up from me. You do go through some questions when you do this and officially you can't do gift aid unless you are "economical" with the truth!

Mark my co-driver drove the car to the drivers meet and said he thought the clutch was biting a bit low and needed bleeding. So tried to bleed it today, what a mistake! Dolly 1500 clutches are renowned to be a bar steweard to bleed. I had tried to make things easier bv installing a remote bleed nipple on the bulkhead with and aeroquip hose to the normal nipple position on the slave, jhowever it didn't seem to work too well! After 3 hours ish of trying and 1L of fluid I decided to take follow so me advice given by Justin from the Dolly Club. I took the slave off clamped it and bled off the car. It Bled successfully so I'd recommend this to anyone else having trouble bleeding a Dolly clutch. I found that a valve spring compressor made a great tool for clamping the slave too. Remote bleed set up now removed as a bad idea!

If you do suspect an airleak after the carbs, spray some easy start over the manifold to car and manifold to head joints, if the revs rise then you have an air leak...

just been checking the BBC 10 day weather forecast for points along the route and as of now it's forecasted to be dry, apart from a bit of mist as we go though Wales It has been pointed out that a bit of mist to a Welshman is the same as torrential rain in the rest of the Britain though!

So I've spent some time since the Drivers meet trying to sort out my leaky exhaust manifold on the Flying Log. There was a leak from the flange to downpipe gasket. On Sunday the joint was stubborn and didn't want to come apart, ended up with a bit of 3x2 Timber and a lump hammer, eventually it came apart but only after I had slipped with the wood and broke the jet on the rear carb. So gasket was replaced but I had to wait for a new jet to arrive. Jet was replaced tonight, carbs put back on the car and I started it. Only to find I had a second leak on the manifold to head gasket! So the carbs came off again, luckily I had a gasket in my RBRR spares. Leak had been caused as the eared blocks that hold the inlet and exhaust under the manifolds were out of alignment and only just securing the exhaust manifold. This allowed the centre two ports to leak. Anyway carbs are now back on, the car has been run around the block and is now leak free. Rather have this hassle now than on the run TBH.

aha, missed out the minus on the Longitude

Not a route, but I have done a Sat Nav file with the control stops in Tom Tom format. It's untested though as my Tom Tom packed up last night! Th ov2 and associated bmp files for uploading as a POI file on tom tom sat navs are included.

Stickers now mounted on Motorway Grade magnetic sign sheet ready to go on the car. Currently sitting on my Fridge to keep them Flat! I've also doctored the Rally Plaque from the last RBRR to hide the 2014 date with Union Jacks. I'm going to put this on the bonnet. Pity there were no plaques this year as I collect them

One step forward but a bigger one backwards for Team Flying Log today. The exhaust flange gasket started blowing on the way to the Drivers meet, nothing unexpected there as they don't last long on 1500 engines! Fixed that today, but had a lot of trouble getting the flange joint apart, had to use a lump hammer and a bit of 3x2 on the downpipe and although this did separate the joint in the end I slipped with the wood and it broke the plastic bit on the rear carburetor jet... (Picture below) New on ordered from Paddocks on line but the car is now sitting in the garage with Carbs removed waiting for a new jet assembly to arrive.

Surely its a rule that teams must raise money for the chosen charity. I note that one team is raising for a different charity Ocean Stars?? Team 125? https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/OceanStarsTRBC

I did mention it to Peter James Insurance on their stall at a TSSC show a few years back when adding an extra driver for the RBRR and they were not bothered as it's not a competitive event. I guess it's effectively just a tour... The lady I was speaking to just wished me good luck for the run! Also by adding extra driver at renewal this year rather than part way through the policy I avoided the normal admin charge so it cost zilch to add him. Plus both my drivers are now on both Triumphs as it's a multicar policy.

Down to little jobs now! Had a good ferret around the ignition wiring as I had a conk out on a roundabout the other day in the dark whch was fixed by wriggling the ignition wires under the bonnet. Unable to find anything untoward though and I've put 150 miles on it since without any issues. The drivers meet next week will also be a good shakedown trip. Fitted some new seats (well 2nd hand seats, courtesy of Dave Tongue) to the "Flying Log", Drivers one without the bodges rips and splits that the original had, Passenger one in about the same condition as mine but changed both as the chocolate brown hadn't faded as much on the replacements. Got fed up with waiting for my Daughters hairdryer to turn up so I could shrink some heatshrink on wiring I did the other week so went and bought a heat gun from Screwfix. Proper tool for the job that I've never owned and never needed but hairdryers are scarce in my house with my baldy bonce! . Heat shrink over the terminals and joints for the electronic ignition feed and the relayed, fused sockets I fitted under the dash. Took the courtesy light switches out and cleaned them with a wire bush, I now have working courtesy lights again! Used some Gunk to clean the engine bay as this hasn't been done for 2 1/2 years and was getting a bit oily. Took the passenger side wiper box nut and sealing washer off and applied some silicone sealant. This follows a bit of advice from Carl Shakespeare as I have an untraceable leak above the dash and Carl with his decades of Dolly experience reckons this is the most usual point of water entry.

Yes they are usually in the road book, although Sugar Loaf is in the middle of nowhere so doesn't have one

I have used Powerade in the past, but now tend to go for Emerge which seems pretty much the same and certainly works as well with the cramp but is dirt cheap in Costco, £2.99 for 12 bottles! Or failing that Morrissons own Energy drinks at 40p each seem just as good too.

Why stay awake if you are tired? That's the point of having co-drivers, if you start feeling tiredness, pull over straight away and swap drivers, that's the only safe way to do it. Being tired will be good in that it should make it easier for you to nod off and get some sleep after you've chnaged. Taking Red Bull, pro plus etc will stop you sleeping which is worse! I do however advocate taking non caffeine containing isotonic energy drinks, they help to keep the fluids and mineral levels up which will help to keep you alert but not impact tiredness... I tend to suffer from cramp and the isotonic drinks certainly help relieve that.

No minimum otherwise Tractors would get caught out! The Renown should at least be faster than a Tractor!

I'll be applying for a match again this time from my Employer, Vodafone. It has to be done after you've raised the money and they may match up to £350. No Guarantee as the application goes to a board who decide which applications get the money each quarter ( 3 months) as there is a finite amount of money to give out, it has to be with a charity on their system so hoping Guide Dogs is one of the listed charities. Definitely worth trying again as they paid out last time!

Premier inn brekkie is pretty good value normally too, the one mile is from the Novatel at the knebworth entrance, probably about 2 1/2 miles from the knebworth barns as even the Novatel was a bit far to walk

BTW I wouldn't actually recommend this! If you get caught it would be fraud and you'd wish you had just been honest and got a few points and a fine for speeding while you are languishing in jail afterwards!

Look on google images, find a few cars like yours and install false plates! If you want to ensure no-one innocent gets a ticket check out a few number plates and find one where the car no longer appears on DVLA records (ie it's probably scrapped!)...

Since the last RBRR there has been a large section of the A9 that has had average speed cameras livened up. These are over a 120mile stretch of the A9 between Dunblane and Inverness, my understanding is that the sections are split focussing on the single carriageway part of the route. This is likely to catch a few entrants out if we are not careful, the A9 has lots of traffic free sections at the time of night that we'll be using it, plus there is the need to accelerate hard to overtake lorries ever now and then which will push the average up. Here are some Maps with the Camera Locations. Dunblane to Perth http://www.invernessreds.co.uk.....Camera_Locations.pdf Perth to Inverness http://www.invernessreds.co.uk.....Camera_Locations.pdf